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From Staff Reports

 

 

AMERICUS – Southland Academy senior Jadie Burrell just keeps on keeping on. Burrell turned in another top 10 finish last Saturday, as she finished in third place in a time of 23:22.70. Burrell finished 24 seconds behind Maria Kilheffer of Furlow Charter (FC), who finished as the race runner-up with a time of 22:58.00 and helped lead the Lady Falcons to a second place finish as a team. Kilheffer’s time was just six seconds off her time at the Marion County Invitational the week before (22:52.36). FC also had a successful day on the boys’ side as well, as the Falcons finished in fourth place as a team at the Southland Raider Race #2 held on Saturday, September 25 at Southland Academy.

Jenna DeBary of Terrell Academy won the girls’ race in a time of 22:57.10 and the FC girls’ team finished in second place with 94 points. They were eight points ahead of third place finishers Sherwood Christian (102) and finished 58 points behind meet winners Perry High School, who finished with 36 points as a team.

In high school cross country, the goal of each team is to score the fewest points as possible. The Schley County Lady Wildcats, who also competed in this meet, finished in eighth place with 225 points.

FC senior Litzy Lepiz was the next local runner to cross the finish line in the girls’ race. Lepiz finished 18^th out of 71 competitors in a time of 26:37.90. Lepiz ran this race 36 seconds faster than her time at the Marion County Invitational, which was 27:13.92. Lepiz’s teammate, Jasmine Kilheffer, finished two spots behind her in 20^th place in a time of 26:54.10.

The next Southland runner to cross the line was Ella Arnold, who finished 27^th out of 71 competitors in a time of 27:46.10. Arnold’s teammate, Maddie Godwin, finished right behind her in a time of 27:47.40. Syrius Zhang of FC was the next local runner to finish the race. Zhang crossed the finish line in a time of 28:05.60. Her FC teammate, Addison Drinnon, finished the race in a time of 29:19.40 and FC’s Jenny Santamaria finished the race in a time of 29:30.00. The Lady Falcons continued to show out in this meet, as Jaclyn Chen was the next local runner to cross. Chen finished the race in a time of 29:45.60.

The first Schley County Lady Wildcat to cross the finish line was senior Kaia McLennan, who finished the race in a time of 30:48.80. Her Lady Wildcat teammates, Kayla Moyle and Malia Harden, finished one behind the other. Moyle crossed the line in a time of 33:59.50 and Harden finished right behind her in a time of 34:17.10. Other local female runners who turned in strong performances are as follows:

• Kaleigh Johnson       Schley County       34:40.60
• Abby Kirkland           Schley County       35:00.60
• Sarah Renfroe           Schley County        37:16.70

In boys’ action, Schley County’s Dustin Howard turned in the best performance of any of the local male runners. Howard finished in fifth place with a time of 19:02.70, which was 22 seconds faster than his time of 19:24.24 at the Marion County Invitational, which was also good enough for a fifth place finish. River Livingston of Perry High School won the boys’ race, finishing in a time of 17:36.50.

The next local runner to cross was Edwin Gonzalez of Furlow Charter, who finished in 10^th place in a time of 19:42.10. Noah Sheff of Southland Academy was the first Raider to cross the finish line and he finished in 13^th place out of 86 competitors in a time of 20:09.20. Sheff’s SAR teammate, Matteson Debaise, was the next local runner to cross. Debaise finished in 26^th place with a time of 21:34.60.  Shaw Pinnell of SAR was the next local competitor to cross the line and he did it in a time of 22:24.00.

Several other local male runners turned in solid performances at the Southland Raider Race #2. They are as follows:

• Kamari Deriso       Furlow Charter           22:44.00
• Apollo Huss           Furlow Charter            22:53.70
• Jaylen Deriso        Furlow Charter             22:54.80
• Jordan Brown       Furlow Charter             23:26.40
• Nick Allen              Schley County               24:14.10
• Matthew Peck       Southland Academy     25:18.10
• Jacob Howard       Schley County               25:44.00
• Kyler Walton         Schley County               26:16.90
• Ghufran Bhatti      Schley County               26:26.20
• Edmund Chen       Furlow Charter             26:40.20
• Hudson Barker      Schley County               28:07.40
• Miguel Yanez         Schley County               30:52.10
• Wyatt James          Schley County               32:22.20

As far as the team competition was concerned, the FC Falcons finished in fourth place with 121 points and were barely edged out by Sherwood Christian, who finished in third place with 120 points. The Wilcox County Patriots were the meet runners-up with 69 points and Perry High School won the boys’ team championship with just 23 points.